He mounted the colt and was riding off, when Peter called him back.
"The boys will take the wagon to-morrow," he said.
"They will meet at the Sixteenth at daylight," replied Ranald; and then to Mrs.Murray he said, "I will come back this way for you.

It will soon be dark." But Bella, hearing him, cried to her: "Oh, you will not go ?" "Not if you need me, Bella," said Mrs.Murray, putting her arms around her.

"Ranald will run in and tell them at home." This Ranald promised to do, and rode away on his woeful journey; and before he reached home that night, the news had spread far and wide, from house to house, like a black cloud over a sunny sky.
The home-coming of the men from the shanties had ever been a time of rejoicing in the community.

The Macdonald gang were especially welcome, for they always came back with honor and with the rewards of their winter's work.

There was always a series of welcoming gatherings in the different homes represented in the gang, and there, in the midst of the admiring company, tales would be told of the deeds done and the trials endured, of the adventures on the river and the wonders of the cities where they had been.